Canopic jar of Tetinakht: Duamutef

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three canopic jars (12.181.253a–c) were found in a tomb dating to the beginning of Dynasty 18. Two of the lids are shaped like animal heads and the third has a human head. This jar, with the jackal-headed lid, represent the deity Duamutef, protector of the stomach. Another jar, with a falcon-headed lid, represents Qebehsenuef, protector of the intestines. The third jar has a lid with a human head and represents Imsety, protector of the liver. These are three of the Four Sons of Horus. Missing from the set is the fourth jar which probably had a baboon-headed lid representing Hapy, protector of the lungs. These are the earliest datable examples of animal-headed lids on canopic jars, a style that did not become common until later in the New Kingdom. In earlier periods, the lids were different. Old Kingdom canopic jars were often covered with simple disk-shaped lids (see 14.7.16–.19), and from the Middle Kingdom to the early 18th Dynasty, they were usually covered with human-headed lids (see 11.150.17a–d). For a complete set of animal-headed canopic jars, see 12.183.1a–d.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art